Watch strap with watch retaining loop



Feb. 26, 1946. T M 2,395,771

WATCH STRAP WITH WATCH RETAINING LOOP Filed June 10, 1944 I mmvroaJifa'qc E. Wes 227 7770172 Jfforn J Patented F eb. 26, 1946 2,395,771WATCH STRAP WITHOXYATCH RETAINING Max E. -Westerman, Bronx, N. Y.Application June 10, 1944, Serial No. 539,644

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a, watch strap and more particularly to awatch strap having a watch retaining loop.

It is known to manufacture watch straps with watch retaining loopsarranged on the straps at a position to permit the strap to be threadedthrough one of the bails of the watch and then through the loop, theloop thereby functioning to retain the watch in a fixed position on thestrap. The watch is thus anchored to the strap and is prevented fromsliding thereon or slipping off therefrom.

The prime object of my present invention centers about the provision ofa watch strap provided with an improved watch retaining loop possessingthe following characteristics andfeatures:

(a) The loop is made to depend from the strap proper at the side edgesof the strap and this is done without altering the structure orappearance of the strap. Thereby a free and fully open loop is obtainedthrough which the strap may be readily threaded; the desired attractiveappearance of the strap is maintained; and the loop itself is renderedinconspicuous and neat-appearing.

(b) The manufacture of the straps is not complicated or rendered moredifiicult by the addition of the watch retaining loop. The loop emergesfrom and depends from the side edges of the strap and is secured to thestrap by the usual operation of stitching the edges of the strap. Thusthe manufacturer of the strap is not materially altered and thesimplicity of manufacturing steps as heretofore-practiced is maintained.

To the accomplishment of this object and such other objects as mayhereinafter appear, my invention is directed to the watch strap assought to be defined in the appended claims and as described in theaccompanying specification taken together with the following drawing inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of the underneath side of the finished strapshowing the attachment thereto or a watch;

Fig. 2 is a side edge elevational view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view shown on an enlarged scale, depicting astep in the manufacture of the strap and particularly of the attachmentof the loop thereto;

Fig. 4 is a view of Fig. 3 taken in cross-section in the plane of theline 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view corresponding to that of Fig. 3 but showing a furtherstep in the manufacture of the strap and the attachment of the loopthereto;

Fig. 6 is a view of Fig. 5 taken in the plane of.

the line 6-6 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view drawn to an enlarged scale of the loopattached part of the strap showing the position assumedby the parts whenthe loop functions as a watch retainer.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing and having reference firstto Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, the watch strap of the present inventioncomprises a two-ply watch strap S of conventional structure providedwith a watch retaining loop L arranged on the strap in a position whichmay be referred to as a watch bail position, that is to say, in .aposition adjacent one of the bails H! of a watch i2 which is adapted tobe mounted on the strap, the other bail of the watch being in-- dicatedas I4. For mounting the watch l'2 on the strap S, the strap is firstthreaded through the bail H) which usually comprises a removable springpin forming part of the watch case and is then threaded through the loopL after which the strap is threaded through the other bail I4 of thewatch, resulting in the assembly depicted in Figs. 1 and 2 of thedrawing.

The watch strap S, which, as stated, is of a conventional structure, isa two-ply formation havingthe upper ply Hi and the underneath ply i8preferably made from a single strip of material and formed at one endinto the buckle receiving tongue part 26 having the buckle pinperforations 22, and formed at the other end into a buckle holding partor fold 24. The buckle 25 is held Within the fold 24 by the transverseline of stitching 28. The two plies I6 and I8 of the strap are sewntogether by the lines of stitching 30 and 32 at. the marginal side edges34 and 36 and the stitching is also continued at the tongue end of thestrap as at 38 and at the buckle end of the strap by the transverse lineof stitching 40, a tongue keeper 42 being secured to and held betweenthe plies of the strap by means of the transverse lines of stitching 28and 40. As stated, this part of the strap construction isconventional.

The loop L is made to depend from the strap proper at the underneath plyI8 thereof from the side edges 34 and 36 of the strap and this is donewithout altering the structure or appearance of the strap. Thereby, asbest shown in Figs. 5 and 7 of the drawing, a free and fully open loopis obtained through which the strap may be readily threaded. The desiredattractive appearance of the strap is not only retained, but the loopitself is rendered inconspicuous and carry out these effects, the thongdefining the loop L is attached to the strap plies i6 and 18 by thelines of stitching 30 and 32 at their marginal edges, as best shown inFigs. and 7 of the drawing. In thus anchoring the loop L to the strap S,the usual steps of manufacturing the strap are followed through and thusthe manuferred way of adding and anchoring the loop to the strap. Thestrap plies may be made of any desired material such as leather or atextile fabric; and in the form of the invention depicted in thesefigures a textile fabric is used. To produce finished side edges, thisstrap may be made from a length of material which in itself is madeduoble ply by inturning or infolding the edges a and b of the materialand having these edges meet in a median longitudinal plane 0. Thisfabric may be rubberized on its inner face so that the infolded parts aand b may be adhesively secured to the outer face d of the strap. Thethong forming the loop L consists of a strip of material, the ends 48and 50 of whichare placed in abutting relation at the median line 0 andthe loop L is temporarily secured in this position by means of a pieceof so-called Scotch tape 52, the purpose of which is to temporarilysecure the loop in position at this step of the manufacture of theproduct. The result is the formation depicted in Figs. 3 and 4 of thedrawing.

The strap material, after the buckle 26 is placed in position, is thenfolded over and the two plies of the strap are sewed together asdescribed, the sewing ofthe strap plies by means of the marginal linesof stitches 30 and 32 being also eifectiveasabove described for sewingand thereby permanently attaching the loop portion 46 of the loop L tothe side edges of the strap producing the assembly depicted in Figs. 5and 6 of the drawing.

The method of making the watch strap of my present invention, thestructure and functioning of the strap and the advantages flowingtherefrom will now be fully apparent from the above detailed descriptionthereof. The loop L being made to depend from the side edges of thestrap, there results a free and fully open loop through which the strapmay be readily threaded, this feature being best depicted in Figs. 5 and'7 of the drawing. The loop is thereby attached to the strap without inany way changing the appearance of the strap either at its top ply or atits underneath ply. The loop itself, particularly when the watch isattached, is rendered inconspicuous and neat-appearing, as is depictedin Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing. The loop being secured in position bythe same lines of stitchingwhich are used to secure together the plies.151

of the strap may thus be attached without altering the customarymanufacturing steps employed in making the strap.

. While I have described the strap in the preferred form, it will beunderstood that some changes may be made therein without departing fromthe spirit of the invention defined in the following claims. As stated,for example, the two plies of this strap may be made of any desiredmaterial, such, for example, as cloth or leather, or the top ply may bemade of one material such as leather and the bottom ply of anothermaterial such as cloth or a lining; and when leather is used theinturning of the-edges of the plies would be dispensed with. Otherobvious changes may be made inthe construction.

1. A watch strap with a watch retaining loop comprising, a two-ply watchstrap formed at one end into a buckle receiving tongue and at the otherend into a buckle holding fold, the two piles of the strap being sewntogether by stitching including stitching alongtheir marginal sideedges, and a watch retaining loop depending from the underneath ply ofthe strap at a watch to bail position of the strap, the said loopconsisting of a flexible thong having its opposite ends lodged betweenthe strap plies and having its loop part emerging from and dependingfrom the side edges of the strap plies, the said thong being attached tothe strap plies by the stitching-at their marginal edges, whichstitching is through the material of the flexible thong.

2. The watch strap of claim 1 in which the

